A friend of Andreas Baader’s from the Berlin club scene, Proll joined Baader, his girlfriend Gudrun Ensslin, and another friend, Horst Söhnlein, in attempting to burn down two Frankfurt department stores in early May 1968. Technically therefore, Proll was not a member of the Baader-Meinhof Gang, but a fellow conspirator in two arson attempts that[read all]

Not really a member of the Baader-Meinhof Gang, Söhnlein participated with Andreas Baader, Thorwald Proll, and Gudrun Ensslin in the April 1968 Frankfurt department store arsons. Söhnlein was a founder of Munich’s Action Theater in the early sixties. His participation in the arsons was possibly a lark. Along with his three comrades he was sentenced[read all]

Contrary to what many people think, Gudrun Ensslin, not Ulrike Meinhof, was the real female leader of the Baader-Meinhof Gang. Gudrun was a politically active student in the 1960s. She participated in the seminal 2 June 1967 Berlin protest where a young pacifist named Benno Ohnesorg was killed. After the protest she went to the[read all]

The Federal Court ends the temporary freedom of the four arsonists and demands they return to prison. Söhnlein complies but the other three flee Frankfurt and head to Paris. They stay at the apartment of Regis Debray, millionaire revolutionary who is serving a 30-year sentence in Bolivia for helping the efforts of Ché Guevara (Debray[read all]

The four convicted arsonists Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, Horst Söhnlein, and Thorwald Proll are released from prison pending review of their cases. Baader and Ensslin begin working at an “apprentices’ collective” — which is a youth home. Baader spends much of his time teaching the kids how to steal motorcycles.

Andreas Baader and Gudrun Ensslin head to Frankfurt am Main with two friends, Horst Söhnlein and Thorwald Proll. Baader has acquired quite a reputation as a “dangerous” sort by his constant calls for violent action. Invariably no one would choose to act on his “suggestions.” Today is different. This time Baader’s fellow comrades elect to[read all]